When Joe returned home with the kids, he found to his surprise that Lauren was already there making dinner. 

"Hi, babe," she said brightly. "I'm finally on time for once."

He didn't expect to be so happy to see her, but he tamped it down because he was still irritated with her about keeping her encounter with Rachel on Wednesday a secret from him, after she'd gotten so huffy with him about his encounter with Joanie on Sunday. "Hey, did you get a call from the police today?" he asked.

"I did, actually. They wanted to confirm Rachel's statement about the trip we made with Jenna Davenport to the salon, and then dropping her off at the Skytrain station."

"They called me to confirm Logan worked with me last Friday. I guess they're crossing their Ts and dotting their Is."

Lauren nodded. "Rachel just called me earlier. Apparently those detectives from Sunday, Pak and Marsden, were at their house to see Logan, and Rachel and Al had to rush home to meet them, so they didn't carpool home with me. The two detectives from the New Westminster Police were there too, the ones who were around for the mummified baby at Mrs. Anderson's house a few years ago, because Jenna Davenport died in New West. Her death is looking increasingly fishy, apparently, and they're working together in case the two cases are connected."

Joe nodded. "Was Pak the one who was all googly-eyed over you?"

"Ah, you noticed, did you?"

"He wasn't very subtle about it."

"Is it weird that I'm part Asian but I'm not attracted to Asians?" 

Joe shrugged. "It's biology. You can't control who you're attracted to. I wasn't attracted to the Italian girls at Notre Dame."

"Good for me."

He looked around to make sure the kids weren't in earshot and said, "Biology probably explains you and Rachel, too."

Lauren blinked and looked up from her cooking. "Yes, I suppose it does, but I think it's more than that, as I'm sure I explained to you."

"Does it explain Wednesday?"

Lauren flinched. "What do you mean?"

He hadn't planned on bringing it up, but sometimes his mouth moved before his brain could stop it. "I talked to Rachel today."

Lauren leaned against the fridge and studied him. "Are you in the habit of calling Rachel?"

"Not really. Maybe more so since the incident." Lauren knew what he meant by that.

"Oh yeah? Just to chat?"

"Well, today I told her Logan can come back Monday." He couldn't remember if he had or not, but it sounded like a plausible enough reason to call.

"I see."

"She then confessed to me that she and you played hooky from work on Wednesday, to..." He looked around again and leaned in. "... be together."

Lauren sighed. "Okay, you got me. I was peeved about Sunday so I thought I'd get back at you. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about it."

He scooped her up in his arms and kissed her. "I forgive you."

"Now that we have our reconciliation out of the way, will you set the table?"

While the family ate, Lauren said, "It looks like the police are keeping an eye on Rachel and Al's place while they're at home, just as a precaution."

"Is Emma in danger, Mom?" Naomi asked in alarm.

"I don't think so. The police are just making sure they're safe. Logan had quite an adventure before the police found him last week, and there might be bad men out there looking for him."

"That sounds bad," Tosh said.

"Logan will have people looking out for him," Joe said. "He'll be on my sites during the week, so Johnny or I will always have an eye on him."

"Emma will be with you at camp, so she'll be fine," Lauren said. "Oh! Rachel told me something else. She let slip, while she was talking to the police, that she wanted to adopt Emma and Logan, and Emma was happy about it."

Naomi brightened. "Really? So they'll be her real parents?"

"If everything goes well. Other family could step forward, but if they've already been in foster care up to now it's a good bet they won't."

"Maybe by the time we go to Harrison Hot Springs, they'll officially be a family! We can celebrate!"

"Oh, that reminds me, we need to book those rooms. Now that we know Logan's out, Rachel and Al should get on it too. I'll talk to Rachel about it."

Later that evening, Lauren got a call from Tej. Joe cringed a little, fearing an awkward conversation, especially after he'd reported back to Lauren about his own conversation with her and seen her reaction.

When she hung up, though, she was smiling. "Looks like we're having our girls' day tomorrow," she said. "It's a good thing Sanderson needed to change Saturdays with me and I have it off."

"Oh, you never told me that."

"I just talked to him today, after finding out from him that Rachel had to rush home to talk to the police at their house. It will mean I'll have to work the next two Saturdays in a row, but I don't think we have any plans for those days."

"So, you're going out with Rachel and Tej and the girls?"

Lauren nodded. "It appears Harpreet has joined our ranks at last. She had her first period yesterday."

Joe pulled at his collar. "Um... are congratulations in order?"

"Not from you, sir, so relax. You weren't so cringey about Naomi getting hers."

"I guess it's different when it's your own child."

"Plus you didn't really have to do anything about it."

"I'm sure if you weren't around I would have stepped up."

"Not by planning a special day for her, though. I'm so grateful Rachel came up with the idea to mark Emma's day, and that she agreed to take me along to mark Naomi's, even if it was belated."

Joe shook is head in wonder. "Honestly, I didn't even know that was a thing until last weekend."

She shrugged and, with a gentle smile, said, "Honestly, I wish I'd thought of it when it happened for Naomi."

"Don't beat yourself up about it, babe. I don't think she felt the lack of it."

"How could she? She was too busy studying her answers to her Confirmation questions."

Joe blinked in surprise. "Was that when she started?"

"Yeah. I don't think she got the chance to properly recognize what was happening to her, physically; instead, she was worrying about some frivolous test that has no basis in the real world."

Joe felt stung. "Look, I'm sorry her first period happened while she was getting ready for Confirmation, but it's a pretty big deal in my religion; I mean, if the Archbishop called on her and she didn't know the answer, wouldn't she have felt embarrassed? As it turns out, he did call on her, and she answered perfectly and clearly. Aren't you proud of that?"

Lauren's brow furrowed. "Proud that she has a good memory? Sure. And I was there, remember?"

"Of course I remember. It's so rare to see you in a church that every appearance you make is memorable."

She flinched and said, "Hey, what's going on here? Are we having a fight?"

"No, sorry, I didn't mean--"

"I think you kind of did. Why do you care if I go to church all of a sudden?"

"I don't, really, it's not that, I just get annoyed whenever you do the passive aggressive thing with my faith."

She threw up her hands in indignation. "Come on, we've gone round and round this before. I let you baptize them, send them to Catholic school even though public school is free, and sat through every big ceremony of theirs. I've made my compromises, but that doesn't mean I have to agree with any of your faith's many teachings that contradict everything we've experienced and done and actually do a disservice to your daughter in the long run."

Joe was stunned by this statement. "You let them? Where's this coming from? I thought we agreed they should be raised with at least some understanding of what their family believes."

Lauren crossed her arms. "Sure, Joe, we agreed. You know why I agreed? To stop your parents from whining and complaining every time we come over. I'm glad you finally got some balls and decided against Notre Dame for high school." 

Joe felt punched in the gut. "Why? Why are you being like this?"

"Why am I being like this?" she repeated, incredulous. "Aren't I allowed to stand up for myself and my daughter? And why are you so irritated at me all of a sudden about the religion thing? It's almost like you're angry at me for something else but you're using this as the thing to fight about."

Joe opened and closed his mouth, unable to speak. 

Lauren's face fell. "Is there something else?"

He had to pull back from the cliff. He was so close to the edge he could see the drop. All it would take was one little push.

"N-no... I don't know..."

Lauren reached a tentative hand to touch his arm. "Hey," she said. "What is it? I don't want to go to bed angry."

He swallowed down his suspicions. They cut his esophagus like broken glass and burned his stomach like acid, but he forced himself to do it. If he let them out they would erupt like vomit and stain everything they touched. If he was wrong, Lauren would never forgive him, and if he was right, he couldn't live with her anymore, because it would hurt too much to even look at her.

"It's nothing," he said. "I think you should enjoy your girls' day. Maybe Tosh and I will have a boys' day, we haven't had one in a while."

She peered at him as if she were trying to read his soul. She saw something that scared her, because she stepped back and looked away. "Okay. Why don't you take Al and Sunny with you, and Logan and Ajit. Maybe Logan can have some fun now that he's out."

He held back a retort even though Al was just about the last person he wanted to see now. "I'll call Sunny," he said. "I like Sunny, and he'll probably be feeling lonely without Tej around."

She frowned at his words, hearing something in them she didn't like. "Uh... okay. I'll call Rachel and tell her to tell Al."

"Sure."

She gave him one more inquiring look and crept away to make the call.

Later, while Lauren was sleeping, Joe slipped out of bed and, for the first time in their marriage, he moved to the couch to sleep, tormented by images of his wife and Al together. He couldn't get them out of his mind, even though Rachel had sworn Lauren had been with her and it should have been impossible. 

It was the car. That bloody car. Naomi had seen a Nissan Versa. He trusted his daughter's observational skills; she took after her mother after all, and even though she hadn't seen the licence plate, something in her subconscious would have recognized the car as her mother's, some chip of paint missing from the fender, perhaps, or some scrape along the bumper. But if that were true, if Lauren's car was there, did that make Rachel a liar? He trusted Rachel. He probably trusted her more than his own wife at the moment; she'd been there at his darkest hour and saved his life, he was sure of it. How could he disbelieve her if she said Lauren was with her?

Al does all right for himself. Those had been Rachel's words to Joanie.

He grabbed his phone and texted Joanie. Joanie, did Rachel really tell you on Sunday that Al does all right for himself?

She texted back in a few minutes. Hey, sorry, I was doing a traffic stop. Yes, I believe that was what she told me. Why?

I can't get it out of my head. Al and my wife.

Don't do that, Joe. Don't spin like that, it's going to drive you crazy. You don't have any proof.

He took a deep breath and typed, Does circumstantial evidence count?

Joanie took a minute to respond. No. Not if you want to stay married.

I don't know about that anymore.

Joe! WTF! Don't say that!

This must be the first time in history that a mistress has counselled against the dissolution of a marriage.

Fuck off! I'm not your mistress.

Sorry. Other woman?

I never wanted to break up your marriage! I have too much respect for Lauren to claim you all for myself. If it were legal I'd like to be something like a part-time sister wife.

Ugh! Mormon style?

You know, polyamory is more than just polygamy. That's the male chauvinist in you talking.

Sorry, that's the last thing I want to be. Tell me more about this polyamory, and why it would be a good thing.

Well, it certainly has its perils. Lots of potential for hurt on every side. For example, how would you feel if I took another lover?

Not very good, but I guess I'd suck it up because I don't have any moral high ground. I do have it on Lauren, though. I can't accept Al in this arrangement we all have, which now that I think about it is a kind of informal polyamory.

A long time passed before the next text came. Maybe she was doing another traffic stop.

I understand that would be very hard. What I can't understand, though, is why you would be willing to burn down everything you've made on suspicion alone.

I guess you're right. Fuck.

Look, if you really want to get proof, maybe we can work together on it.

Intrigued, he typed, What do you suggest?

Let me think about it. Hey, by the way, I can arrange the vacation time to go to Harrison Hot Springs when you do.

Really? That's fantastic! I'd love for you to come.

I'd love for you to see me in a bikini.

I'm getting hard just thinking about it.

Won't Lauren be angry if she sees me there?

Fuck her, I'm still mad at her.

Joe, don't let your anger turn you into a person I wouldn't like. You're edging dangerously close.

He sighed. It was the one thing she could have told him to get him off the ledge, and he was thankful for it. Sorry. How about you just run into us there, and we say it's a coincidence.

She'll see right through that.

Let her call me on it in front of all our friends.

Are they all coming?

Maybe. I think Rachel and Al will. I don't know about Sunny and Tej.

Okay. I should probably go, I'm supposed to be working. Shouldn't you be asleep?

I couldn't sleep. See above.

Too bad we can't see each other this weekend.

I know, but I really need to see Johnny.

Don't worry, I'm also busy. Here's something to help you release your tension and get to sleep. Make sure your data's on.

A few seconds later, a photo showed up in his text thread. Joanie, beautiful as ever, in her uniform, which of course got him excited right away. Her uniform was unbuttoned, and one bra cup lifted.

She knew what would get him going, that was for sure.

He immediately took a photo of his erection and sent it to her. Back at you. Thanks babe. 

Thank you, but deleting this thread as soon as I rub off. Good night, Joe.

Goodnight, Joanie. He added a heart emoji. It was their way of expressing affection without saying they loved each other. They both knew saying it would add a whole other level of complication to what was otherwise a convenient relationship for both of them.

Her picture worked. As soon as he went to the bathroom and did what she intended him to do with it, he deleted his own thread, knowing Lauren could look at his phone whenever he wasn't around, and went to sleep.

He woke early in the morning and slipped back into bed before Lauren woke up and became alarmed. She'd already been unnerved by his behaviour earlier, so the last thing he wanted was to make her more suspicious about his intentions.

Thanks for reading this far! This is beginning to look like a train wreck in slow motion for the LSDC, and there's still the threat of whoever's looking for Logan to contend with. If you liked what you just read, hit "Vote" and leave a comment. To flash back to the time Joe had to get his van cleaned out after disposing of a body and had a heart to heart talk with Rachel, click on "Continue reading."